How it all began…

It all started in the spring of 2016 in Alaska. My brother, Zach, was stationed at JBER in Anchorage, and I was living in a rock gym in Wasilla. Our dad was living in Seward at the time, so at least once a month, Zach and I would make the couple-hour drive over the weekend to hang out with him.

At some point during those visits, we decided to try a creative writing exercise for fun. Without realizing how significant it would become for us, we created a title before typing a single word. I opened up Microsoft Word and typed out: The Grieving. I wrote the first few paragraphs of a story, then handed the laptop off to Zach, who added his part a few hours later. We went back and forth like that for almost a year. Then one day, Zach said, “I think it’s done.” And it was.

During that whole process—passing the story back and forth—we never discussed our ideas or tried to guide each other. We just trusted one another to do justice to the world we were building.

After what I thought was a thorough editing, we let a few people read it. Their feedback was more encouraging than we expected, which got us thinking about publishing. I’m pretty sure I googled something like, “how can I publish a book for free?”—and that led me straight to Amazon KDP. It checked all the boxes: no upfront costs, and we’d get paid if the book sold. Sounded perfect! I didn’t look into the broader world of indie publishing, which I now realize is much bigger than I knew at the time.

We sold a few copies—maybe 20—to family and friends. And then we were hooked.

For the second book, Zach took the lead. Since I had started the first one, he came up with the title and opening chapter. While The Grieving was a time-travel sci-fi novella, Zach wanted to challenge us by writing something a little more grounded in reality. Most of this book was written while Zach was living in Japan, so we emailed our parts back and forth.

Even Shadows Have Shadows opened in a maximum security prison and stayed in the real world…for a while. After about six months, we hit a creative wall. For the first time, we discussed the story and tried to figure out where to take it. The only idea that made any sense was to derail it completely by introducing a new character in a new setting. That was supposed to spark our creativity and eventually circle back to the original storyline. But ultimately—and thankfully—we scrapped the second storyline. I couldn’t help myself: I kept thinking about how much fun writing sci-fi was. So, I merged the worlds. I think it caught Zach off guard a little, but we both embraced it and dove back in with renewed energy.

After about a year, we wrapped up the second novella and, again, published it with only a couple laps of self-editing. Problems for future me.

Our third book, A Sign From Above, began with the intention of staying in sci-fi while stepping outside the universe of the first two books. But about three-quarters of the way in, I did it again. I merged the worlds. Just like that, ASFA became the third installment of what we then started calling The Time Keeper’s Saga. This one took us nearly a year and a half to finish, but it was our first real novel—finally long enough to have a spine thick enough for printed words!

The fourth book began in Greece. My brother, my wife (fiancée at the time), and I were sitting at a beachfront B&B discussing what might come next. Communication—a new thing for us! Zach pitched an idea that became the foundation of the book. We didn’t plan much, just enough to get started—more than we had for any previous book. He kicked it off on his birthday with a fantasy tale set in the Land of the Virtuous Dead. It was also the first time we named a book after it was finished. Another big change!

When it was my turn to add to the fantasy story—skellies and gold and all—I couldn’t resist. Old habits die hard. I merged it into the TKS universe again, giving us the fourth book in the saga. We agreed this would be the final book in the series, at least for now.

Land of the Virtuous Dead took over two and a half years to finish and tripled the word count of each of our first two books. I really tried to edit as thoroughly as possible along the way, hoping there’d be less work at the end. If only. Turns out, when you reread something you’ve written, your brain fills in all the gaps and lets tons of errors slip through. Enter Grammarly. It exposed hundreds of things I missed—some intentional, most not. Still, I had to go through every suggestion, one by one.

It was also during this book that Zach suggested we switch from email to Google Docs, so we could both work in the same file. Game changer.

LotVD felt like a turning point for us. We found our voice. It became our baby. By then, we were comfortable with each other’s writing style—different, but complementary. We’d built a detailed universe and had plenty of characters and lore to work with, which gave us a solid foundation. But that also made things harder. Characters who had died showed up alive again. Key details changed without explanation. It became clear: we needed an author guide. So we built one—a timeline of events, character descriptions, and a running list of loose ends to tie up. That guide helped us bring the ending together with far less chaos.

Maybe someday we’ll plot and outline a bit more. But I’m not sure I want to change the way we work. There’s something about it that just clicks. Time and again, I’ve thought, this is exactly where the story should go, and then Zach sends in his part—and it’s a 90 or even 180-degree turn. But that’s what keeps us flexible and curious. It keeps the ideas fresh. We never know what to expect from each other, and that’s half the fun.

People have suggested we should plan more, and maybe they’re right. But fun is what got us started in the first place. We keep writing for that moment when the other person reads our part and loses their mind. Or when we read what the other person wrote and feel that spark. Our characters feel real to us now. We can see the worlds. We can hear their voices. And we know they’ll live on in the minds of our readers.

There are so many parts of this journey that make it worth it. The adrenaline rush of reading Zach’s chapters. The hundreds of hours I spend editing each book until I know I’ve done my best and am giving the reader a good experience. The writer’s block. The breakthroughs. I love all of it—and I know Zach does too. We’ve grown so much together as writers. And what a journey it’s been. May it continue for as long as possible.